Environmental Services departments are constantly being challenged to “do more with less,” to provide quality services with fewer resources, especially labor resources. Cleaning is a very labor intensive function and our largest costs relate to labor. A ES manager must constantly be looking for ways to improve labor productivity, either through improved tools or automated equipment, or investigating new methods for cleaning. Waiting until reductions are mandated will not give you enough time to investigate options and evaluate if they will work in your facility. I recommend you become active in professional associations like IEHA and AHE. Network with ES colleagues in other facilities is also an excellent way to learn about new techniques and systems that improve productivity.

Measuring productivity
The way we track and measure productivity often is the biggest barrier to achieving improvement. Many cleaning managers have a vague and incomplete view of what to realistically expect from their staff, so there is no way to know what areas are unproductive and certainly no way to measure the full impact of any changes.

To begin with, determine the exact amount of square feet the cleaning staff is working with. Of that total, how much is actually cleanable? Exactly what does it take in terms of labor, chemicals and equipment to clean that area? What steps do workers take to clean that area and how long does each of those tasks take to complete?

Managers need an accurate benchmark before they can make changes or comparisons. “Guesstimates” aren’t good enough.

One way to determine these benchmarks is to evaluate the different areas of a cleaning operation. Once managers know what goes into a task, how much time it should take and what the results should be, they can determine a range of areas where improvement should occur. Some employees may need more training while some tasks might warrant altering or elimination.

Change management
A common stumbling block for many ES managers is that, once they’ve determined what needs improvement, they simply do not understand how to work with staff to make any changes.

Many times managers attempt to test a new, potentially time-saving tool or technique in their operations, but when employees resist, the managers give up. Managers either dismiss something because it takes too much effort to institute, or simply decide their staff is too stubborn to learn anything new.

Instead, explain the benefits of change in terms employees understand. Managers also need to distinguish between “different” and “wrong” when communicating changes to their staff. Many employees tend to view new ideas as wrong, unless proven otherwise, and subtleties such as this can make or break new procedures.

For instance, a new tool could help an employee work faster, possibly with less fatigue, and with better quality results. But the employee’s priority is to get through that shift, and a new tool means taking time to learn and adapt. Meanwhile, failure to use this new tool properly can add even more effort and time, making the change counterproductive.

A manager sensitive to the nuances of change knows it is essential to explain how this new method, though time-consuming at first, would eventually save the employee more time and create less fatigue. Taking the time to provide a thorough explanation, and to listen to employee feedback, can produce favorable results much faster.

Follow-up also is a must. If managers don’t ensure that workers are using new tools or methods properly, they could be erecting more barriers to change.

Often, employees create their own version of a task, mixing and matching what they prefer, or they revert back to the old way. Without constant tracking and retraining, managers might assume bad results mean the new method isn’t working or employees aren’t capable of adapting. In actual fact, the change they’ve implemented may not be in practice at all. This leads to false data that can skew benchmarking, making it harder to track a department’s inefficiencies.

This is a brief overview of productivity, measuring and implementing change. In the future I share some thoughts on capturing and reporting the savings.

Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below.

Lose the weight. I’m not talking about physical weight but dead weight from your department. Deal with staff who negatively affect the department. They “weigh” on time, energy and morale and are preventing the team from achieving excellence.

Exercise your role and lead by example. Now that you can move about freely because you cut away the dead weight, use the time and energy wisely to walk and talk to your staff on a daily basis. Share in their world; hear their suggestions, concerns and ideas. They are the people who make it happen daily. Demonstrate that you value the staff members who make the department and institution look good every single day.

Housekeeping schedules should be planned, written and closely followed. Cleaning schedules should be developed according to the needs of each area. Without written routines and schedules your productivity and customer satisfaction are going to go up and down more often then a roller coaster.

A properly stocked cleaning cart will help prevent wasted trips to supply closets and should be equipped with any of the following items which are necessary for your work:

Read the rest of this entry

If I asked how many of you have seen a killer phrases poster … or even have one hanging in your office … I’m sure I’d see hands going up all over the world. What I seldom see are the replacements for the killer phrases … the things we can say instead of those old negative chestnuts. The one most of us already know is to replace “Yes, but …” with “Yes, and …” in order to build on ideas. But there are a lot more killer phrases that need replacing. I’ve listed a few and would like to invite you to send us your killer phrase with an appropriate Leap Stimulator.

Read the rest of this entry

Statistically successful objectives are precursers to, or actual goals, that have a better than average probability to help your personal or professional outcomes. Or simply stated; things you should do to be better off.

An objective is defined excellently by dictionary.com as ’something worked toward or striven for’. When we combine this definition with the acronym SMART (and variations thereof), which is often discussed in the same ‘breath’ as business objectives, we are able to set objectives for any level of an organization which compliment the strategy of the organization (and hence the vision and mission). As a quick reminder here is what SMART means:
•    Specific: The objective must not be too broad and must be defined.
•    Measurable: Self explanatory – you must be able to measure success against the objective.
•    Achievable: It must be possible to achieve the objective.
•    Relevant: The objective must compliment higher objectives and strategy and be relevant to the person/department for whom the objective is being set.
•    Time-based: Don’t leave objectives open-ended. Have a specific date as to then the objective must be met.

I am going to focus on four daily / weekly objectives that my friends over at JimRohn.com recently shared with me. I agree with these four because they are simply enough to accomplish, focused enough to produce results, and meet the definition of “SMART”.

1. Take care of the daily to-do’s.
2. Invest some time (on average 5-10%) on a regular basis toward future planning and projects.
3. Invest some time (2-5%) cleaning up old projects or messes.
4. Finish strong and don’t create new messes that will need to be cleaned up in the future.

If you don’t get frustrated in the short term, over a given period of time you will start to see amazing progress on many levels. Daily consistancy will improve, deadlines will be easier to meet, and future planning will bring amazing results. Of course the usual and customary improvements will follow, such as no weeds in your flowerbeds, your dog won’t bite, flowers will bloom, birds won’t mess on your car… you know what I’m talking about.